Configuring my new PC.

[Bibin]

I'm at a crossroads, ModRetro! It's high time I set up a computer using a modern socket, as LGA775 is getting a bit boring. It's almost Summer Upgrade Day (June 28) and I won't have much of a CPU to install, now will I?

My Current System:

Core 2 Quad Q8200, overclocked to around 2.4GHz or whatever, I don't care
Asus P5B Board (great board)
8GB DDR2 ram at 1000-something mhz, works fine, memtest doesn't complain
Antec 300 Case
Like 500W or whatever PSU
Blu-ray Burner
500GB Hard Drive
64GB SSD (just to hold the OS + applications)
9800GT Video card (It's not amazingly great, but it's not a bottleneck for what I do right now)

I can re-use a number of parts, namely:

Antec 300 Case
Like 500W or whatever PSU
Blu-ray Burner
500GB Hard Drive
64GB SSD (just to hold the OS + applications)
My copy of Win7 Legit
My 9800GT Video card (It's not amazingly great, but it's not a bottleneck for what I do right now)

Things I need:

CPU
RAM
Board

So far I've come up with this plan:

$280 - Core i7 860 CPU: 2.8GHz, Quad Core (HT'd to 8 cores), 8MB cache, LGA1136, good stuff.
$100 - ASUS P7H55-M: 4 DDR3 slots, Has 1xPCIe x16 and 1 PCI, and I think two PCIe x1, that's fine
$ 95 - 2 x 2GB DDR3 RAM sticks (leaving two slots open, so I can have 8GB in the future)

Total: $475.

All this totals out to :

Any suggestions? Recommendations to save money? (I'm selling my old C2Quad + Board + 8GB DDR2 for just $200!)

 

[Twilight Wolf]

Unless you're an Intel fanboy, I'd very much recommend an AMD Phenom II of some breed. The six-core X6 is out now, but if you don't need that, an X4 or even an X2 should perform admirably. My 3.4 GHz X4 used to be a 3.1 GHz X2, so it only cost me $100. (inb4 robm rage)

For a motherboard, I really like my MSI 790FX-GD70. VERY easy to overclock with, plus you can unlock cores in a Phenom II X2 if you bought one of those so long as the processor itself supports it; most do, it seems. Lots of expandability, too, with four PCI-E 2.0 slots, plus a bunch of USB ports (it even comes with an extra if you need it), plus the traditional PS/2 ports. It is a bit pricey, however: about $160. Still, I love it.

For RAM, I use 4GB of G-Skill DDR3, two 2GB sticks, 1600 MHz. Cost me $89 since I bought them on sale.

 

[Bibin]

I don't want any AMD in my house. Pretty sure that X4 or X2 doesn't quite compare to the 8 logical cores I want from the iy 860 anyway.

That board is decent but it costs more - I'm looking to spend less, not more :/

 

[snowpenguin]

Why losing 4gb of ram?

 

[Twilight Wolf]

4GB DDR3 > 8GB DDR2

 

[Bibin]

4GB DDR3 > 8GB DDR2

This is so, so, so wrong.

Snow, it's so I can save money - I only occupied half the slots so in the near future I can put in another 4GB to get my 8GB back.

 

[snowpenguin]

why don't you just keep your current 8 gb?

 

[Twilight Wolf]

Ugh, there you go again, just telling people they're wrong and not even bothering to explain. I hate when you do that. I mean, you're obviously so much more intelligent than I am when it come to computer parts, so why not educate me? If I'm wrong, I prefer to be corrected so that I can learn, not just be told "lol wtf no" and get left wondering. ._.

 

[bentomo]

Why in the world do you need 8 gigs in the first place. What in the world are you doing?

 

[PalmerTech]

I specifically remember Bibin arguing with me about how much better DDR3 is when he got his Mac Mini.

Admit it, Bibin, for most purposes, 4gb of good DDR3 beats 8gb of DDR2. The difference is minimal at that size, and speed can help.

 

[Bibin]

I specifically remember Bibin arguing with me about how much better DDR3 is when he got his Mac Mini.

Admit it, Bibin, for most purposes, 4gb of good DDR3 beats 8gb of DDR2. The difference is minimal at that size, and speed can help.

In most real world situations, DDR3 is about 7% faster than DDR2.

Virtual machines, gaming, and lots of things open at once. Capacity is of importance. Speed of it is important but means a lot less.

Snowpenguin, I have DDR2 now. My new board takes DDR3.

Ugh, there you go again, just telling people they're wrong and not even bothering to explain. I hate when you do that. I mean, you're obviously so much more intelligent than I am when it come to computer parts, so why not educate me? If I'm wrong, I prefer to be corrected so that I can learn, not just be told "lol wtf no" and get left wondering. ._.

Nice chunk of assumptions right there. I don't ever say that or think that about myself.
It's hard to bother explaining when what you said was pulled out of thin air with no explanation or logic behind it. 4GB isn't enough; having it be faster than my old 8GB is nice but doesn't solve that problem.